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Giant Eagle x Flashfood: An extended partnership that's decreasing food waste and increasing savings

Flashfood, Giant Eagle save more than 1 million pounds of food
Flashfood, Giant Eagle save more than 1 million pounds of food 02:02

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Giant Eagle announced a major milestone in their efforts to reduce food waste. 

It's all thanks to an expanded partnership with a mobile app that both helps in reducing waste and saving shoppers money. 

If you dread going to the grocery store because of the high prices, there's one simple app you can check before going to any Giant Eagle and it's called Flashfood. 

It's been helping save money and save food. 

More than one million pounds, at that. 

It's how much Giant Eagle has stopped from ending up in landfills. 

"It's really an effort to move that product from our stores before it becomes a food waste situation," said Jannah Jablonowski, a Giant Eagle spokesperson. 

She's talking about their partnership with Flashfood. It offers heavily discounted food, up to 50 percent off, that is nearing its best-by date. 

"As a food retailer, we recognize that we have a really unique responsibility not only to fight food insecurity in our communities but also to really tackle this food waste problem," Jablonowski said. "Food waste is very detrimental to the environment and it really goes hand-in-hand with food insecurity. Why should we be wasting food when we can put it on the tables of folks who need it the most?" 

Recently at Market District in the Waterworks, they had a variety of meat, produce and dairy products all available at discounted rates. 

Giant Eagle launched the program in 34 stores in 2021 and expanded it to all locations, including Pittsburgh, last November. 

It creates the perfect recipe for shoppers who could save an average of $96 per month on groceries. 

The app has already saved customers nearly $2.5 million. 

"It's really exciting because not only does it offer meaningful savings for shoppers who are looking to better manage their grocery budget in this challenging time, but it also makes an environmental and sustainability impact," Jablonowski said.

The app is simple to use, it's free, and you can check what is available, place your order, and then pick it up in the Flashfood area of the store. 

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